Some retail Caterpillar sales improve amidst overall decline

Thursday

Jan 26, 2017 at 10:55 AM

Matt Buedel, GateHouse Media Illinois

PEORIA — Retail sales of Caterpillar Inc. equipment continued an overall decline at the end of 2016, though some equipment divisions and regions showed signs of improvement.Machinery sales in Asia and the Pacific in particular posted notable increases in retail sales for the three-month period concluding at the end of December, while Resources Industries products - comprised largely of mining equipment - gained ground in North America, slowing the decline in sales on the continent.Machine sales worldwide were down 12 percent, while energy and transportation sales declined 22 percent, from October through December, according to retail sales figures filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The filing comes one day ahead of Caterpillar releasing its fourth quarter earnings report, which will include final revenue and profit numbers for all of 2016 and the first formal projections for 2017.The retail sales figures filed Wednesday are "primarily based on unaudited reports that are voluntarily provided to Caterpillar by its independent dealers and which are not subject to Caterpillar's internal controls over financial reporting," according to the document.Construction Industries sales in Asia and the Pacific posted the most significant gains, with sales increasing 21 percent in the three months ending in December from the same period a year ago. Overall machinery sales in the region rose 19 percent.More Video: Rex Camera Shop will shutter their doors after 106 years in business. Vintage cameras and photography gear from years past still line their shelves as they hold their close out sale.Mining equipment sales in North America, meanwhile, showed a 4 percent decline over the same three months, compared to last year. The year-over-year decline for the three-month period ending in November for the same sector and region posted a 28 percent decline.Caterpillar has estimated it will have $39 billion in sales and revenue in 2016, with preliminary forward-looking statements indicating an expectation of slightly lower figures for 2017.The diminished numbers, however, have not curtailed a steady rise in the company's stock price, which has particularly spiked with the election of Donald Trump as president.